WDTPRS: Collect 4th Sunday of Advent (Vetus Ordo) – “What our sins are obstructing”.

This prayer was in the ancient Gelasian Sacramentary and other sacramentaries. It survived in edited form in the Novus Ordo on Thursday of the 1st week of Advent.

Excita, quaesumus, Domine, potentiam tuam, et veni: et magna nobis virtute succurre; ut, per auxilium gratiae tuae, quod nostra peccata praepediunt, indulgentia tuae propitiationis acceleret.

Praepedio means “to entangle the feet or other parts of the body; to shackle, bind, fetter”, and therefore “to hinder, obstruct, impede”.   Something is placed “before” (prae) the “foot” (pes), which makes you stumble.  We never stumble using the thick Lewis & Short Dictionary which shows that prae-pes means also “swift of flight, nimble, fleet, quick, rapid”.  To the Latin ear, just hearing prae-ped…sparks an interesting tension of opposing concepts. During Advent we are being constantly given images of movement, of rushing swiftly to a goal: venio (“come”), suc-curro from curro, (“run”), accelero….

A LITERAL VERSION:
Rouse up Your power, O Lord, we beseech You, and come: and hasten to aid us with your great might, so that, through the help of Your grace, what our sins are hindering the indulgence of Your merciful favor may make swift.

“What our sins are obstructing/hindering”.

I’ve written about this prayer before, and in depth.  It is striking how a jewel sparkles as you move it.  So too this prayer with repetition sparks new thoughts.

I play chess, if you haven’t noticed.  When preparing to move, chess players look for checks, captures and threats.  You look to see if pieces are hanging, if your move will weaken squares.  You check your opponents position for loose pieces. Etc.   When you a shooting pool, you might have to flick a piece of lint off the table before your shot.  Golfers will clear away a twig or leaf.  Musicians and soldiers and athletes do drills.  Competitive sailors make sure their hulls are clean and smooth.

Why?  They want a successful outcome.

A gardener prepares soil and a Christian does penance, works of mercy and prays.

Agere sequitur esse applies also to being a Christian, true Christians actually what the Christian character calls for: imitation of the Lord and of the saints in faith, hope and love.

Why?  Because it is stamped into our souls in baptism and sealed into place with the Holy Spirit.

“What our sins are obstructing/hindering”.

It was, I think – without double-checking – in the Imitation of Christ we read that if we could reform in ourselves, firstly, our principal faults and then, year by year, our other self-identified vices or defects, we would be heading toward holiness.

In curling, the sweepers remove from the passage of the stone any snow or chips and they create a slight layer of water from their friction to help the stone or turn the stone.  They want to hit their mark.  Lawyers review the evidence and arguments.  Cooks do their prep and put everything out in the right place.

As Advent comes to its close, can you sense Christ is rushing towards you?

Will we hasten him to us by clearing the path of obstacles for His rushing feet, bringing peace and reward?

Will our sins hasten His more violent coming, with correction and then separation?

We must smooth His path, remove the obstacles.

When the Lord comes, He will come by the straightest path … whether we have straightened it out or not.  Our sins make His path crooked.

“What our sins are obstructing/hindering”.

Check your parishes for their schedule and GO TO CONFESSION!

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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One Comment

  1. Fr. Reader says:

    Thank you very much. I did not know the meaning of “praepediunt”, but I just thought it was something in the opposite direction of “acceleret”, similar to im-pedire or ex-pedior. In Spanish we still have the verbs expedir and impedir, but not prepedir.

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